Shale retort



Feb., 5 l924 11,482,677 c. J. DUNTEN SHALE RETORT Filed Oct. 4 1922 Margaret. 5, 1924.

*Unirse s'rA'ri-:s

.l CHARLES QT. DUNTEN, F QRCUTT, CALKFURNIA. I

' snALE amro-nr.

appucationalea october 4L, :waal serial no. seance.

State of California, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Shale Retorts, of which the followlng 1s a specification.

This invention relates-to apparatus. for

the heat treatment of oil Vbearing shale and similar hydrocarbon oil containing materials and pertains particularly to au improved form of gate-valve to' be'used in the receiving and discharge passageways l5 for said apparatus and is particularly adapted to such an apparatus within which the heat is generated by burning a portion of the' material within the apparatus.-

One feature of the invention isthe `partcularf construction of the slidable member of the gate-valve. Experience has shown that in all types of hopper or passageway valves heretofore used, a serious drawback to their successful operation has been the accumulation of tarry matter and deposits on the moving parts and the result has been that shale apparatus so equipped is unabler to render continuous servlce. Troubles common t'o the previously known apparatus of this type are avoided by the details of the present invention in which the valve opening in the slidable member bears a definite proportion to the area of the whole member and when a plurality of valves are used,

$5 the openings in each separate valve are alternated thus preventing a breaking of the seal at the receiving and discharge ends.

The invention :further provides mechani- -cally operated driving means for the valves,

e0 said driving means being positioned adjacent the main apparatus and being connected to all the valves in use so that one source 'of power will serve to actuate the driving means and thereby operate the e5 valves simultaneously.

'llhe above mentioned andl other features of the invention will be described in detail `and claimedin the following specication and claim and illustrated in the drawings,

ou in :which:

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view e5 taken on the line 2--2 of Figure l ad illustrates the arrangement of the slidab e mem- .fall

paratus in which the improved form ofl valves is used. v

'Y Referring now to Fig. 1, 1 represents the main body of the shale retort and may be made inl accordance with any of the well known designs for such apparatus. The distilling zone is represented by 2 and the same is positioned intermediate the receiving passageway v4 and the discharge passageway 6. The upper portion of receiving passageway 4 has mounted thereon a hopper 3, said hopper being formed with sloping sides and having a horizontal partition 8 placed across the narrowest portion' of its throat. Midwayv within the passageway 4 is positioned an auxiliary hopper 5 which also has sloping sides. rFhis hopper has a horizontal partition, 9 placed across the narrowest por-- tion of its throat, said'partition extending to the 'sides of the passageway 4. The parf-titions 8 and 9 lie wholly within passageway f4 and are in spaced'relation with Veach other.

The partitions 8 and 9 have rectangular openings .15 and 16 out through them, the

widthpfhsaid openings with respect to the partitions being shown in the drawing..

charge passageway 6. As shown more clearly in Figure 2 there are positioned below the 'horizontal partition 8, horizontal parallel `guide members or tracks 11 .upon

which the member 10 is caused to slide...

These guide members are secured tothe sides of the hopper .4 and areV spaoedfrom the horizontal plate-'by a space equal tofl the thickness of the slidable plate 10. rThisv plate is of a smaller horizontal ,sectional area than the horizontal sectional area ofA-v the passageway 4. As shown in Figure,

the slidable member has an opening 17 cutl therethrough. This opening .is of rectangu- .lar form and is positioned to one side of the center line of the slidable member and in practice, this opening will bear a definite proportion to the total area of the slidable member and will also bel of the same size' as the opening 15 in the horizontal parti.-

tion 8. rlihe member has a connecting rod 14 extending therefrom in a horizonte direction, through the wall of the hopper .this rodbeing of a length suiiicient to engage a vertical crank shaftV 19 positioned to one side of the apparatus. The slidable members 23, 24 and 25 are of the same dimensions as the slidable lmember or gate valve 10 and each is supported and positioned in substantiallythe same manner. The respective connecting rods'21, 22 and 20 also connect with the crank shaft 19.

The crankshaft 19 which is mounted adjacent to the apparatus is continuously rotated through a gear 26 in mesh with a gear 26*al which latter is on a shaft 26" driven by a source of power, not shown. The various connected rods being connected to the crank shaft are therefore given an alternate motionfthe' crank arms being so thrown that when gate valve 10 is moved in the guide members and opening 17 registers with opening 15,` the'gate valve 25 is moved in the opposite direction and the. openings 16 and 18 do not register. Similar alternate motions are applied to thegate valves 23 and 24.. It will therefore be seen that as the materialispfedinto the receiving passageway the "upper .end of the d istillingchamber is alwaysnclosed' to the admission of air.- Similarly, as the spent shale is being j discharged through' the discharge passageis closed to the air. Theslidable'members servev to shear olf or clear .--away any tarry` .'.tracks or guiding. members has atenden'cytokeep -the same clear of.all' :de fosits that, lmay form. Moreover', the [nove construci -tion fof the gate-valves obviates the attend- A way,t'he lower end of the distilling chamber matter' that accl-imulatesV around the valve openings Vand the sliding .motion ont the -ant losses in' heat during the time of opera.-

tion.

` 1 The entireV processlishfamiliarly known as t the contlnuous precess:of("distillation,"steam. ,a .i 1- y .the pi y from t e lowermost valve and may be ed' ,Tap oles B0 (see Figs. 1 and 4), are

.of the slidable member.

bein admitted Aat 28 and the va ors .fremd A thev 'stilling chamber passin o thro 'h 29. The spent sha e is dumug olf b an inclinedchute or carted away.

vided in the casing 1 by means of w 'ch stirring rods may be intp thebodyv slidable member. The imperforate portion of the member is sutlicient to completely cover openlng 15 inl the horizontal partition ofthe passageway.-- i v I claim:

In an apparatus having a distillingchaniber for extracting hydrocarbon'oi from shale and similar material, :meansr for intro-` ducing shale in successive vcharges topthe upper end of said-chamber, said .means comprising a receiving'passageway, a plurality o horizontal gate valves in spaced .relation .with each other disposed in .said passageway, means forv removing s nt shale Afrom the lower end'of said cham r, said means comprising La discharge passageway, aA plurality of horizontal gate valves in spacedl relation `with each other disposed in saidv passageway,A a vertical rotatably driven crank shaft positioned adjacent to said' apparatus, and means on said shaft adapted to engage' said gate 'valves to alternately operate said valves for the admission and ldischarge of shale.

*Intestimony whereof -I ax my signature.

CHARLESIJDNTEN 

